1. This Circular provides for road administration and maintenance; the application of technical standards and norms on road administration and maintenance; and responsibilities for road administration and maintenance.

2. This Circular does not apply to expressways.

Article 2. Subjects of application

This Circular applies to agencies, organizations and individuals involved in road administration and maintenance.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Circular, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Road administration agencies include an agency performing the specialized state management function under the Ministry of Transport and specialized agencies under People's Committees of provinces or centrally run cities, People's Committees of districts, towns or provincial cities and People's Committees of communes, wards and townships.

3. Technical infrastructure system consists of lines, pipelines, tunnels and technical trenches running along or across roads.

4. Road work maintenance process means a document providing for the contents, methods and order for maintaining a road work. This process covers maintenance of parts and structures of a work and maintenance of installed equipment and equipment operation.

Regular maintenance aims to minimize the development of minor breakdowns into major breakdowns and shall be conducted regularly and continuously on a daily basis and all year round on the whole road route to ensure safe, smooth and convenient road transport.

6. Work maintenance means a combination of activities aiming to maintain normal operation and ensure use safety for a work.

7. Medium repair means the repair of breakdowns and a degraded work or structure of a work which may affect a road's operation quality and cause unsafe operation.

8. Overhaul means the repair conducted upon the occurrence of breakdowns or degradations in different parts of a work to restore its original quality.

9. Irregular repair means the repair of a road work affected by unexpected impacts such as gale, flood, earthquake, bumping, fire or others, leading to breakdowns or degradations which need timely repair to ensure uninterrupted traffic.

Article 4. Road administration and maintenance requirements

1. A road which is completely built, upgraded, renovated or has gone through overhaul or medium repair shall be checked before acceptance, handed over, administered and maintained. The administration and maintenance period is counted from the date an investor or operation manager signs the record of check before acceptance, handover and commissioning
of a work.

2. Road administration and maintenance comply with the maintenance process, technical standards and administration and maintenance norms announced by competent authorities.

3. Road maintenance process

a/ For projects to build, upgrade or renovate roads with new technologies and materials;projects involving the transfer of new technologies for roads of grade II or higher grade, the designer or technical equipment supplier shall develop a maintenance process and provide it together with the work completion dossier to the road administration agency or road maintainer or operator. Expenses for developing a road maintenance process shall be included in a project's total investment.

For a project involving the transfer of operation management technologies, training shall be completed before it is handed over.

For a project involving the supply of equipment, the equipment supplier shall provide the operation and preservation technology process and regulations on labor safety and fire and explosion prevention and fighting.

b/ For road works not specified at Point a. Clause 3 of this Article, organizations and individuals may administer and maintain them according to current technical standards and regulations.

c/ For works invested in the form of build-operate-transfer (BOT), build-transfer-operate (BTO) or build-transfer (BOT), investors shall, based on the size of works specified at Point a, Clause 3 of this Article, develop a maintenance process and send such BOT, BTO or BT project contracts to competent state agencies for signing and performance.

a/ Obtain a construction license and have a traffic assurance plan approved by a competent road administration agency; take measures, work out an implementation schedule, arrange time and rationally organize construction with sufficient road signs, traffic light signals, flow and lane division guidance and traffic instructors to ensure traffic safety and smoothness for people and vehicles;

b/ Implement regulations on environmental protection and labor safety in the course of construction.

5. Maintenance of works after acceptance and handover to operation managers (road administration agencies) must be warranted for 12 (twelve) months, for periodical repair, or must follow 2 steps specified in Clauses 3 and 4, Article 6 of this Circular. Regular maintenance must ensure the efficiency and safety of works according to technical standards.

a/ For land bridges: Such a dossier comprises documents extracted from the work completion dossier, such as the bridge's non-load status, dossier of the height point system, plan, the bridge's vertical and horizontal sections, geological section, dossier of compensation for ground clearance, dossier of road landmarks, the bridge's safety corridor, inspection dossier, and construction licensing dossier; the bridge's record, updated examination and inspection results, and periodical or irregular repair projects; and the bridge patrol and examination book;

b/ For roads: Such a dossier comprises

documents extracted from the work completion dossier, such as plan, vertical and horizontal sections, geological section, water drainage system, dossier of compensation for ground clearance, dossier of road landmarks, and construction licensing dossier; the stretching plan and updated developments of traffic organization and use of land for roads; road patrol book; updated data of vehicle count (traffic flow and vehicular weight); updated examination results, and periodical or irregular repair projects;

c/ For ferry landings: Such a dossier comprises documents extracted from the work completion dossier, such as plan, including plan on the location of marking buoys and waterway traffic light signals in ferry landings, traffic organization, the ferry landing's vertical and horizontal sections, dossier of compensation for ground clearance, dossier of road landmarks, the ferry landing's safety corridor, and construction licensing dossier; updated developments of flows of ferry landing-using people and vehicles; changes in traffic organization, examination results, and periodical or irregular repair projects;

d/ For road tunnels: Such a dossier shall be made like that for roads. In addition, it must contain updated information on the status of air ventilators and air ventilation chambers, fire and explosion incidents, operation of electrostatic dust suction chambers, lighting system, water pump system, water drainage system, wastewater treatment system, fire prevention and fighting system and other supporting equipment;

e/ For embankments, culverts and similar man-made works, separate examination and monitoring plans must be worked out in addition to regular administration and maintenance.

3. Making dossiers of road safety corridor administration

a/ A road safety corridor administration dossier covers the use status of road safety corridor land and works affecting road or traffic safety; violations, time of violation and handling of violations;

b/ A feeder road connection dossier must be made to monitor and additionally update violations related to such connection as a basis for working with competent authorities and local administrations to ensure road traffic safety;

c/ A technical infrastructure administration dossier comprises the dossier of completion of technical infrastructure facilities within the road safety corridor, the construction license and other relevant documents.

4. Administering and protecting road works; coordinating with police offices and People's Committees at all levels in administering and protecting road traffic infrastructure.

5. Monitoring damage of road works; conducting regular patrol and examination to promptly detect breakdowns and acts encroaching road traffic infrastructure and handle such acts according to competence or propose People's Committees at different levels to handle such acts under regulations.

6. Conducting monthly, quarterly and annual examination of technical status and irregular examination in the wake of floods or storms or other extraordinary impacts.

7. Counting vehicles, analyzing data and evaluating the growth in the flow and types of road motor vehicles.

8. Administering vehicle weights and sizes; issuing operation permits for caterpillars and oversized or overweighed vehicles exceeding the load of road works; weighing vehicles at fixed or temporary vehicle weight checkpoints or handling violations under regulations; analyzing and evaluating impacts of the operation of oversized or overweighed vehicles on the durability of road works.

9. Keeping books to monitor the number of accidents and identify initial causes of accidents and damage. Coordinating with police offices and local administrations in tackling traffic accidents
according to competence.

3. Periodical repair means the repair of road breakdowns within a specified duration in combination with the handling of road flaws emerging in the course of operation to restore the original technical status and improve operation conditions of roads (when necessary).

Periodical repair covers medium repair and overhaul. At least one medium repair must be conducted in the interval of two overhauls.

a/ For roads:

The road medium repair and overhaul period is specified based on the type of structure of road surface and the vehicular flow calculated based on road surface designs as specified in the table below:

No.

Type of structure of road surface

Medium repair period (year)

Overhaul period (year)

1

Asphalt concrete

4

12

2

Cement concrete

8

24

3

Asphalt -mixed macadam and black macadam

3

9

4

Bitumin-pregnated; and asphalt-coated with 2-3 layers

3

6

5

Standard macadam, macadam-mixed

2

4

6

Naturally-mixed

1

3

The road medium repair and overhaul periods may be adjusted using coefficients to suit the road use duration and the growth in the flow of road motor vehicles. These coefficients are applied similarly as coefficients (K) and (Kj) in the appendices of regular road maintenance norms.

b/ For land bridges:

- For makeshift bridges: Periodical repair must be based on regular examination results.

- For other bridges: Periodical repair must be based on regular examination results and inspection results.

c/ For road tunnels and ferry landings: Periodical repair must be conducted based on regular examination results, in addition to repair conducted according to the operation process under regulations.

4. Irregular repair means the repair of road breakdown incidents caused by natural disasters, floods, storms or other incidents. Concerned road administration units shall take the initiative in working out plans and expeditiously mobilizing all available human resources, equipment and supplies to divide traffic flows for ensuring smooth traffic and immediately report such to road administration agencies for assistance.

Irregular repair takes the following two steps:

a/ Step 1: Urgently repairing and restoring roads to ensure the quickest opening of roads to traffic and limit damage to road works. In this step, repairing shall be conducted simultaneously with making dossiers as a basis for payment and finalization of expenses.

b/ Step 2: Following step 1, this step aims to restore roads to the original size and technical standards or strengthen or consolidate road works. This step is taken according to the order and procedures like those for capital construction works.

Article 7. Application of technical standards and norms for road administration and maintenance

The Vietnam Road Administration shall guide, supervise and examine the application of standards, technical regulations and norms of regular road maintenance nationwide; monitor and evaluate the application of standards, technical regulations and norms of regular road maintenance; the conversion of branch standards into national standards or regulations on regular road maintenance (including that of rural roads); and work out norms of regular road maintenance and submit them to competent authorities for announcement under regulations.

2. Technical standards and norms of periodical or irregular road repair are the same as those for capital construction works.

3. Technical standards and norms of regular road maintenance

a/ To comply with current standards and technical standards on regular road maintenance.

b/ To comply with norms of regular road maintenance.

c/ Norms of renovation and maintenance of lawns, greeneries, lighting systems and marker posts and other similar norms not mentioned at Point b, Clause 3 of this Article comply with corresponding norms promulgated by competent authorities and applicable in other sectors or localities.

Article 8. Road administration and maintenance responsibilities

1. Responsibilities of organizations and individuals for road administration and maintenance:

a/ To administer and maintain roads under Article 4 of this Circular;

b/ To detect and promptly prevent and handle acts encroaching upon road works or illegally using land reserved for roads;

c/ To take responsibility for the degraded quality of road works due to failure to follow the prescribed maintenance process.

2. National highway system

The Vietnam Road Administration shall organize the administration and maintenance of national highways; preserve, and manage the use of, dossiers of completion of newly built, upgraded or renovated road works; summarize and report to the Ministry of Transport on the administration and maintenance of national highways before January 15 every year or upon request.

b/ Provincial-level People's Committees shall specify the administration and maintenance of district and communal roads suitable to local conditions. Provincial-level Transport Departments shall guide and ex amine the administration and maintenance of local roads;

c/ Provincial-level Transport Departments shall review and send periodical or extraordinary reports on administration and maintenance of local roads and national highways entrusted to them for administration to the Vietnam Road Administration and the Ministry of Transport.

4. Investors shall manage and maintain specialized roads, roads managed and operated by entities other than the State and roads built with capital other than state budget capital according to announced national standards and technical regulations.

5. When renovating or upgrading a road under operation, the project investor shall direct the constructor in taking traffic safety assurance measures under regulations.

6. The Vietnam Road Administration shall assist the Minister of Transport in guiding, examining and supervising localities and investors in road administration and maintenance operations.

The Vietnam Road Administration shall, based oil administration and information provision requirements, build a road database and specify forms of statistics and reports on road administration and maintenance.

Chapter III IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 9.Effect

This Circular takes effect 45 days from the date of its signing.

Article 10. Organization of implementation

1. The Chief of the Ministry Office, the Ministry's Chief Inspector, directors of departments, chairpersons of provincial-level People's Committees, the director of the Vietnam Road Administration, heads of concerned agencies and organizations, and concerned individuate shall implement this Circular.

2. Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be reported to the Vietnam Road Administration for summarization and further submission to the Ministry of Transport for consideration and settlement.-